Thanks for the welcome! I really enjoy conference realignment talk and theories.

My bad on the UAB thought....I knew they were in CUSA....just got my thoughts mixed up.

I do understand the funding on the 12 member conference. I just wondered if adding two schools in the footprint might help with opponents travel to away games...which could ease dividing the revenue up by two more teams. The increase in attendance for every sport could put many more fans in seats and sell a bunch more tickets every year. It also cuts down on travel costs if the conference splits into east and west...and has plenty of close rivals.

I'm not saying its a guarantee for more money...just an option.

JMU is going to want in some conference....eventually. And the SBC seems a bit small for that size of fish.

Does anyone believe that CUSA will drop two teams to get back to 12 because of the revenue split at $12 million? Of course, there is always the possibility that UTEP heads back to a western conference.

You can't just drop them for the sake of fit or b/c you want to. They'd have to have some major, major violation to get kicked out. Chicago St., UTPA are only 2 that come to mind that that has happened to in D-I.

Yeah...that's what I am saying. 12 schools for a $12 million split. 12 schools isn't such a hard number...that the conferences would get rid of schools just to keep the $1 mil per school payout.So, with that in mind...I don't believe that CUSA would stay at 14 just to keep the numbers paying out the same, either. JMU would bring in a much needed high revenue team. Which would benefit the whole conference and reduce travel. If I remember correctly on the FOIA papers that were floating around from the SBC 'pre-look' into potential schools numbers....had JMU spending around $30/yr on their football. Which was above most current SBC teams...by a large margin. Which makes me think that the SBC might be a bit small for that size budget.

JMU has spent a tidy sum (not sure if it's $30 million or not) as a one-time investment in facility upgrades.

Their total ANNUAL athletics budget is somehting more on the order of $5 million.There are several articles posted on CAA thread that give actual numbers and future projections in the CARR report on moving to FBS.So in terms of money, they will be in the same ballpark as the lower end of FBS.

Where to ?

Don't think they bring the market to make them attractive to the AAC ('the American !").

CUSA seems full, unless they all want to go to 16 schools. JMU would have some regional rivalries with ODU, WKU, UNC-Charlotte....

Sun-Belt has an opening, and is rumored to have invited JMU. JMU's nearest conf. foe would be Appy State, I believe, andthe conf. "center" is down in Texas,Ark, La., Alabama.That's a lot of travel. Much is made of NMSU and Idaho (no big deal- they are affiliates in FB only, and at most, that's one long road trip / year for one sport only - FB).

MAC - they would appear to be the wild card. Since Temple went to AAC, UMass as football affiliate kind of goofs up their numbers. Are they working behind the scenes to line up a multi-school expansion ? You'll read about JMU, Delaware, UMass.... who knows how much of that is just internet rumor-mongering...

A: I think people are putting to much emphasis on the 12million cap from the playoff/BCS money, CUSA already has 14 school which makes the payout ~850K/per school, and by adding 2 more (JMU/AkSU) it would only drop to about 100K to 750K/per school. They could save that money by organizing into pods and greately reducing travel costs.

B: I think the goal here is to add more teams and get more undefeated/1/2loss teams. The SEC has already shown us that by adding more teams and playing the other division less you can get more teams into the top of the polls, and while CUSA will never be at the top of the polls, it could use this same tactic to get more team into the polls and thus increase their chances at a BCS bowl or more bball tournament bids which can make up for thoe loss of that 100K per team.

C: Don't be so sure realignment isn't over, CUSA is the most at risk with the MWC eyeing Texas schools and the AAC looking for replacements. Adding 2 more could preemptively reduce the need to grab more after a defection or 4 and allow for the SBC to add a school or two now that CUSA could poach later down the line if need be.

D: And finally I think a lot of schools in CUSA like JMU (ODU/UNCC/Marshall) and want them included. If this doesn't happen and JMU is forced to join the MAC or SBC then I could honestly see a MWC style defection where many of the NorthEastern schools decide to leave the Southern ones behind and form a localized conference akin to what the Big East was and like the MAC is with UMass, Army, JMU, ODU, UNCC, Marshall, Buffalo + Temple, Navy (after UConn/Cincy get ACC invites) and an upgrade or two like UDel, Towson, Nova, or Richmond.

_________________Fan of the Big 12 Conference, the Mountain West Conference and...

JMU has spent a tidy sum (not sure if it's $30 million or not) as a one-time investment in facility upgrades.

Their total ANNUAL athletics budget is somehting more on the order of $5 million.There are several articles posted on CAA thread that give actual numbers and future projections in the CARR report on moving to FBS.So in terms of money, they will be in the same ballpark as the lower end of FBS.

Where to ?

Don't think they bring the market to make them attractive to the AAC ('the American !").

CUSA seems full, unless they all want to go to 16 schools. JMU would have some regional rivalries with ODU, WKU, UNC-Charlotte....

Sun-Belt has an opening, and is rumored to have invited JMU. JMU's nearest conf. foe would be Appy State, I believe, andthe conf. "center" is down in Texas,Ark, La., Alabama.That's a lot of travel. Much is made of NMSU and Idaho (no big deal- they are affiliates in FB only, and at most, that's one long road trip / year for one sport only - FB).

MAC - they would appear to be the wild card. Since Temple went to AAC, UMass as football affiliate kind of goofs up their numbers. Are they working behind the scenes to line up a multi-school expansion ? You'll read about JMU, Delaware, UMass.... who knows how much of that is just internet rumor-mongering...

I was remembering the total athletic budget revenue numbers, it appears, of $34 million for JMU. Their football revenue numbered to $6.6 million. The only members of the SBC that were close to but not surpassing JMU were NMSU, Tx State, and W Ky. Those three were in the $25 million range. The football revenue numbers were $6m(nmsu), 4m(txst) and 5m(wku).

By the 2014-15 season, East Carolina, Tulane and Tulsa will leave to join the AAC (The American). In response, Western Kentucky will join C-USA from the Sun Belt; leaving possibly as the following format:

However, there is a small problem. The league will have 15 teams with 2 unbalanced divisions. This leads me to some questions: Will C-USA plan to either expand a 16th member (maybe from the Sun Belt)? Or will C-USA lose a member to either the AAC or a nearby geographic "Power 5" conference?

By the 2014-15 season, East Carolina, Tulane and Tulsa will leave to join the AAC (The American). In response, Western Kentucky will join C-USA from the Sun Belt; leaving possibly as the following format:

However, there is a small problem. The league will have 15 teams with 2 unbalanced divisions. This leads me to some questions: Will C-USA plan to either expand a 16th member (maybe from the Sun Belt)? Or will C-USA lose a member to either the AAC or a nearby geographic "Power 5" conference?

By the 2014-15 season, East Carolina, Tulane and Tulsa will leave to join the AAC (The American). In response, Western Kentucky will join C-USA from the Sun Belt; leaving possibly as the following format:

Wait, I was mistaken on something. I meant 13 with 2 unbalanced divisions (not 15), but for next season (2014-15), not for 2015-16. And it's still for football purposes since C-USA hasn't yet to choose division alignment format for other sports.

By the 2014-15 season, East Carolina, Tulane and Tulsa will leave to join the AAC (The American). In response, Western Kentucky will join C-USA from the Sun Belt; leaving possibly as the following format:

Wait, I was mistaken on something. I meant 13 with 2 unbalanced divisions (not 15), but for next season (2014-15), not for 2015-16. And it's still for football purposes since C-USA hasn't yet to choose division alignment format for other sports.

Ohh I see...I wouldn't be surprised if the MAC took a school for #14 if James Madison wasn't invited. I wouldn't blame Marshall for making the jump back to the MAC. They're usually a stronger CUSA team that fits in the MAC region. Plus, the MAC is stronger than CUSA now.

By the 2014-15 season, East Carolina, Tulane and Tulsa will leave to join the AAC (The American). In response, Western Kentucky will join C-USA from the Sun Belt; leaving possibly as the following format:

Wait, I was mistaken on something. I meant 13 with 2 unbalanced divisions (not 15), but for next season (2014-15), not for 2015-16. And it's still for football purposes since C-USA hasn't yet to choose division alignment format for other sports.

Ohh I see...I wouldn't be surprised if the MAC took a school for #14 if James Madison wasn't invited. I wouldn't blame Marshall for making the jump back to the MAC. They're usually a stronger CUSA team that fits in the MAC region. Plus, the MAC is stronger than CUSA now.

If the MAC plans to take a school for #14, it should be either James Madison and/or Marshall; plus, having UMass to start for full membership status to be travel partners with SUNY-Buffalo. And for division purposes in the MAC, Bowling Green would go to the MAC West, since either Marshall or JMU would be in the MAC East.

Oh, just remembered, shouldn't Charlotte plan to join C-USA football for next season instead of 2015, as it regularly scheduled (in order for the conference to have their divisions balanced)?

I find it disingenuous that they say they intended to be a FCS team. Their stadium just so happened to be expandable to a 40K+ range? They turned down FCS conference invite(s), including a money-shot full CAA offer? CUSA officials just "happened" to stop on by, AND they "kept the administration out of the loop?"

The acting on infomercials is more convincing.

I wonder if she sticks around UNCC much longer. She got her program ahead of AppState...I doubt ECU makes it easy on them, and that's not the kind of struggle you want to make the next part of your career. Other schools would kill for someone like her.

These metro-commuter campuses in pro markets--even southern ones (GA. State, UNCC, etc.) reflect the impression glorious things are to come because of where they are located. School growth based on a population pool of convenience, may not necessarily translate into unlimited possibilities when it comes to adding and developing football.

ECU (though not an urban campus) has been the model for great ambitions beyond their resume', but a history of struggling to find a conference to allow those ambitions to be realized. Same State.

Being urban does not assure lofty media attention and business interest development. Think Temple.

UCF, for example, has made a success of it, but cracking into the real elite remains a challenge. They are the beneficiary of the last year of the BCS.

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